Two boats leave Palm Beach Wharf for two completely different places — which one do you actually want? This page is the inner one: the Pittwater loop that calls at Bennetts and Bonnie Doon in Coasters Retreat, The Basin campground inside Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, Currawong and Mackerel Beach. It is not the Broken Bay crossing to Patonga.
Grid published by Palm Beach Ferries as its current Basin timetable and transcribed on 22 September 2026; the operator publishes it only as an image, and that image file dates from October 2023 Palm Beach Ferries – Basin and Mackerel timetable · 2026-09-22
Which boat did you mean? Palm Beach Wharf sits on a narrow spit with ocean on one side and Pittwater on the other, and it launches services in opposite directions. The Basin Ferry Service — the one this page covers — turns inward across Pittwater to Bennetts, Bonnie Doon, The Basin, Currawong and Mackerel Beach. The Patonga service goes the other way, north across Broken Bay to the Central Coast. They are not the same trip, not the same fare and not the same timetable.
Transport for NSW settles the naming question. On its Gold Opal fares page the authority files this boat as the Palm Beach Ferry and then names the three places it serves: Great Mackerel Beach, Coasters Retreat and Currawong Beach. It is one of only three private ferries in Sydney that reach communities with no practical road access. Bennetts and Bonnie Doon, the first two stops on the operator's own grid, are the Coasters Retreat wharves.
Most people on board are heading for one of two things: a day on the beach at The Basin inside Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, or a night at its campground. The crossing to the campground wharf takes twenty minutes and costs $10.80 for an adult. What takes a little more thought is getting home again.
Palm Beach Ferries prices the Basin run and the Ettalong run separately, and the Basin one is the cheaper of the two: $10.80 for an adult single against $15.10 across to Ettalong. Only singles are published — there is no advertised return fare — and tickets are bought on board by card. Cash is not accepted.
Two things get added on top for most people. Anything bulky is charged as freight at the crew's discretion, which matters if you are carrying camping gear. And if you are landing at The Basin for the day, National Parks charges its own landing fee at the wharf.
| Adult | $ 10.80 |
| Child 4–15 | $ 5.40 |
| Concession (Australian senior, pensioner or student card) | $ 5.40 |
| Under 4 | Free |
| Bicycles and similar, including scooters | $ 4.10 |
| Small — parcels, unattended backpacks, benchtop appliances, tools | $ 5.65 |
| Medium — suitcases, moving boxes, two-wheeled trolleys, surfboards | $ 11.05 |
| Large — four-wheeled trolleys, white goods | $ 16.45 |
| Landing fee, day visitor, per adult | $ 3 |
| Landing fee, day visitor, per child | $ 2 |
| Park entry if you drive in instead, per vehicle per day | $ 12 |
Operator's 2026 fares, read on 22 September 2026; National Parks fees read the same day Palm Beach Ferries – Fares and Prices · 2026-09-22
The line on this map runs west and south from Palm Beach Wharf into Pittwater, towards the Ku-ring-gai Chase shore. That is the whole geographic difference between this service and the Patonga one, which heads north across Broken Bay to the Central Coast. Same departure point, opposite direction, different ticket. Both are private boats working outside the Sydney Ferries network, as is the Manly to Watsons Bay crossing down at the harbour mouth.
One wharf, more than one service, and that is where the confusion starts. Palm Beach Ferries sells tickets on board — credit or debit card only, no cash — and asks passengers to be on the wharf ten minutes before departure. National Parks warns that parking at the wharf is time-restricted and advises finding untimed parking elsewhere rather than collecting a fine while you are camping.
National Parks calls this the campground wharf, and it is where day visitors pay the landing fee — $3.00 an adult, $2.00 a child. Behind it is a waterfront campground of 114 sites with toilets, showers, drinking water, barbecues and a public phone. The alternative way in is a steep 2.8-kilometre walking track down from the West Head Road carpark, which is why NPWS itself says to take the ferry if you are carrying gear or children.
Every daytime sailing calls at The Basin outbound, but the first boat that will pick you up there is the 16:30. If you want to leave earlier than that, you are looking at the water taxi or the 2.8-kilometre track to West Head Road.
Fares are sold on the vessel at the time of departure and the operator takes credit and debit cards only. There is no online booking for the Basin run; only the 24- and 48-hour Hopper passes and the whale-watching cruises are sold online.
Charges apply for bicycles, camping equipment and freight, from $4.10 for a bike to $16.45 for something trolley-sized. The crew decides the category, so pack in fewer, smaller loads if you can.
This is an exposed run on a small vessel and the operator says plainly that services can change with or without notice for bad weather. They post disruptions to their website and Facebook and run an SMS alert list for regulars — worth joining if you are committed to a campsite.
National Parks specifically warns that parking at Palm Beach Wharf is time-restricted and suggests finding untimed parking instead. An overnight camping trip and a timed parking bay do not mix. It is the same wharf the Patonga boats use, and the only mainland departure point outside Sydney Harbour on our New South Wales page.
The asymmetry in the timetable is the single most useful thing to understand about this service. Read the operator's grid as a loop and it becomes obvious: the 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 15:00 sailings call at The Basin on the way out, carry on to Currawong and Mackerel, then run back to Palm Beach without stopping. Pick-ups on the return leg only begin with the 16:00 departure, which calls at the campground wharf at 16:30. A day visitor who lands at 10:20 has a six-hour minimum stay whether they wanted one or not.
The weekend gets one extra option and Fridays get two. The 18:30 out of The Basin runs Friday to Sunday and puts you back at Palm Beach at 18:45; on Fridays there are further sailings at 19:00 and 20:00, the second of them drop-off only. On public holidays the operator falls back to the daily services alone. In the other direction there is a genuine commuter movement most visitors never see: a weekday boat that picks up at Bennetts at 07:45 and has residents at Palm Beach by 08:10. Sydney's network ferries can be just as lopsided — the F9 to Watsons Bay keeps commuter hours too, and for most of them it stops short of the place its own route number advertises.
No. This is the Basin Ferry Service, which runs inward across Pittwater to Bennetts, Bonnie Doon, The Basin, Currawong and Mackerel Beach. Patonga lies north across Broken Bay and is a different crossing, even though both leave from Palm Beach Wharf.
It is the Bennetts and Bonnie Doon stops, ten and fifteen minutes out of Palm Beach. Transport for NSW names Coasters Retreat as one of the three communities this ferry serves, alongside Great Mackerel Beach and Currawong Beach.
16:30. The morning and midday sailings only call at The Basin outbound; the first boat that picks up there is the one that leaves Palm Beach at 16:00. After that there is a 17:30, an 18:30 from Friday to Sunday, and a 19:30 on Fridays.
$10.80 for an adult single. A child aged 4 to 15 pays $5.40, and so does a concession card holder; under-4s travel free. Tickets are sold on board at the time of departure and the operator takes credit and debit cards only — no cash.
If you are landing at The Basin for the day, yes: $3.00 per adult and $2.00 per child, paid at the campground wharf. If you have booked a campsite that landing fee is already covered by your camping fees.
Freight is charged per item and the crew decides the category: $4.10 for a bike or scooter, $5.65 for small items, $11.05 for suitcases and surfboards, $16.45 for anything trolley-sized. The operator flags camping equipment specifically as chargeable.
You can walk in from the West Head Road carpark, but National Parks describes it as a steep 2.8-kilometre track and recommends the ferry if you are carrying gear or travelling with children. Water taxis and private boats are the other options.
Services can be altered or cancelled with or without notice for bad weather. Palm Beach Ferries posts disruptions on its website and Facebook page and runs an SMS alert list; if you have a campsite booked, it is worth signing up before you travel.
The operator labels it as the current timetable, but it is published only as an image and the file itself dates from October 2023. The times on this page are transcribed from that image exactly as it stands. Before a long trip, a call to 1800 326 822 costs nothing.